Becoming a Pilates Teacher
by Laurette Ryan , Balancepoint Pilates
www.balancepointpilates.com

 My personal journey into the Pilates world starts in the dance studio many years ago. I was lucky to have a teacher who knew the Pilates exercises and used them as part of a proper warm-up. Even as a teen, I recognized the benefit of the training and continued to use them as my life progressed from dance-world to fitness-world through the 80’s and 90’s. At the time I had no idea there were teachers and instructors still teaching Joseph Pilates method, originally called “contrology” out there in the big world.
 I re-discovered the Pilates movement in 1999. I was already heavily involved in the fitness industry. I managed a major group Exercise Department at a large fitness facility, owned my own Exercise Studio, had a local cable fitness show and provide continuing education for fitness professionals. In 1999 something interesting happened, I was looking for something new to do, to keep my attention, when I happened upon a Jennifer Kreis video. I was in love with movement again. It resonated with me , it was so hard , yet so natural for me. I started a class and really didn’t care if I was the only one there. ( The beauty of being the one who creates the class schedule at a facility). This workout- worked! No other ab- routine had this quick effective result. I would know, in my 25 years of teaching , I’ve had 4 children !
 I found there were few training and /or certifying organizations at that time. Most teachers apprenticed under a master to learn the craft. I took a few “certifications” and then decided with my background in exercise science and dance as well as other movement modalities to create my own training program , so the teachers I would employ would share my view of Pilates ( and believe me -there are many diverse views on Pilates) . I also felt that the training program I taught would have to be one which could provide continuing education credits through a major fitness certification.
 Skipping ahead to today becoming a Pilates teacher has a more defined framework. This is a blessing as everyone does Pilates today and qualified teachers are important. Everyone can’t be taught by a master (original student of Joseph Pilates) so a relevant framework is necessary. These days a teacher goes through a comprehensive training program which should be designed to teach exercise science theory,the history of Pilates and his method, all apparatus and exercise repertoire, client screening and safety & liability. My feeling is all training programs should prepare the teacher to take the PMA Certification Exam. www.pilatesmethodalliance.org  The PMA test is great way for teachers to show they are qualified to the general public. I also feel the training doesn’t end there. Training to be a Pilates professional never, never ends.
 My personal opinion is also that training programs should focus on training professional teachers, not on the selling of Pilates products and equipment. In teaching teachers we should aim to create educated , intelligent , open minds  who are capable to choose the type of apparatus and props that help them best teach the work. Every time I have taken a seminar/workshop with a 1st generation teacher, I am always so inspired by how open to learning, exploring and growing they still are. My personal wish on my journey with Pilates work is that I end up just like that. Thank You Joe, Thank you, 1st generation!

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Technorati Tags: pilates exercises, pilates fitness, pilates mat, pilates reformer, pilates workout

Risa Sheppard

By Laurette Ryan

Recently, I had the great pleasure of meeting 2nd generation teacher Risa Sheppard. A Pilates teacher with amazing energy and love for the integrity of the work. So Pilates friends – if you haven’t had the same pleasure -yet…. here she is!

LR :  How did you discover Pilates, Risa?

Risa: It was 1975. I had just graduated from UCLA in theatre arts, and was an “ingénue” actress here in Los Angeles.  I had studied dance and  drama, but was not a professional dancer.  But I loved to move. I was cast in several plays that required me to “move” well. I heard of this thing called “Body Contrology,” which Ron Fletcher had brought out from New York. He had studied under a man named Joe Pilates. Ron’s studio was in Beverly Hills, above the Aidea Grey salon. Lots of celebrities, such as Ali McGraw and Katharine Ross, were coming in to get in shape. I was intrigued. I tried it, and I loved it. I felt like a dancer, without being a dancer. I still wanted to be an actress, but I fell in love with the work, and within a short time I was asked by Ron to teach. I was just thrown into the water, so to speak. I started to be more successful as a teacher than as an actress. Although I had acted in soap operas, I started to perform on television even more, as a “fitness expert.” I had found my niche.

LR: You’ve been in the field a long time, what do you think of Pilates surging popularity? What are the benefits and drawbacks?

Risa: The surging popularity of Pilates has been good for my business, but I have also seen its drawbacks. The benefits are that people have become very aware of Pilates and are looking for ways to do it. For a long time in my early career, no one had ever heard of Pilates, mostly thinking that aerobics and Jane Fonda were the only things synonymous with fitness. Now, at least in Los Angeles, there is a Pilates studio on every corner. People don’t know that they don’t know. Pilates, or as I still prefer, “Body Contrology,” is “about movement, it is not just an exercise regimen.” But some studios are indeed making it just an exercise program, making it like “aerobics” of the 1980s. It has become about making people “sweat” instead of making people move well. “Control of the body” has lost it’s meaning in today’s fast-paced society. We must maintain the control or else we just repeat the mistakes of the past. Our bodies become injured if they are not trained properly, and it can give Pilates a bad name.

LR : Do you have a favorite exercise?

Risa: I love all the movements because they require grace and agility with strength. I don’t really have a favorite. However I always like to include the spine stretch each time I work on the reformer, because it involves most the muscle groups, it stretches the back, and it requires a great deal of control and concentration. I like to say, “You are as young as your spine is flexible.”

LR: You have an interesting approach with your bar, how and why did you come up with that?

Risa: I always liked to open the shoulder girdle, because it improves posture and gives us the opportunity to move our bodies in a three dimensional sequence. I also used the bar, or pole, to help stretch the client and give them the feeling of using a tool that keeps them in proper alignment. About 6 years ago, along with two of my longest-standing teachers, Ann and Jeff Grimaldo, we decided to come up with a mat routine, based on my mat work that I have been doing for all these years. Ann and Jeff are modern dancers, so we incorporated some dance movements in with the classic Pilates and the Sheppard Method floor work. I had a serious surgery about 5 years ago, so we abandoned the work for a while, but recently resurrected the syllabus and began teaching it again.

LR:   What advice would you give to new Pilates teachers?

Risa: Don’t think you know it all. I used to think I knew it all, and have discovered as I matured that I knew less and less, and enjoy learning more and more. Be patient, and don’t call yourself a “master” until you’ve been teaching at least 10 or more years. Learn your craft. Most of all, remember it is about the client, not about you. Don’t try to give them your agenda; it’s about them and their needs.

LR: What has been the impact of Pilates in your life?

Risa: Wow! First of all, it has provided me with a good standard of living for 35 years. Secondly, it has kept me healthy and fit. But most of all, it has allowed me to be of service to others. It is so rewarding to have a client feel better and happier because of your treatment. I’m so grateful to have found this discipline at an early age, and I feel very fortunate to be able to make a living at what I love doing.

You can find out more about Risa Sheppard at:

http://sheppardmethod.com

I’m packing my bags for CA and the PMA Annual Conference, will report back soon!

Laurette Ryan - Owner Balancepoint Pilates 617-435-3185 www.balancepointpilates.com www.balancepointstudios.com www.pilatesworkoutblog.com

Technorati Tags: exercise, health, Pilates, pilates mat class, pilates reformer, Risa Sheppard

By Laurette Ryan

www.balancepointpilates.com

Pilates has been for a while one of the hottest workouts around. I remember WHEN…before the media hype, before the celebrity endorsements, before it was a multi-million dollar industry. I remember when there were not 50 zillion “Pilates” “Certifications” out there. I remember getting a paper pattern and detailed instructions on how to “build” the wunda chair. Now there are a ton of equipment companies and as many chair designs as that! I remember feeling lucky when Pilates started to get popular, more people were interested in class.

In 1993, I taught a mat class that had 2 students, until the health club owner took it off the schedule in favor of a Step n Body Blast class. Then in 1999 I had a mat class that went from 4 regulars to 25 people jammed into a little aerobics studio in the span of about 2 weeks after Madonna said-she did Pilates-I was excited. 12 years later my excitement is turning to an overwhelming nervousness and apprehension about the future of “Pilates”.

I put Pilates in quotations because I would like to say true Pilates, but at my age, there may not be enough time to fully resolve that issue. So let’s just say that there is “Pilates” and then there is Core conditioning, Ab toning group exercise, stretch and lay there , dare I say unsafe, ineffective group and private sessions, on and off equipment masquerading as “Pilates”.

A lot of this fake Pilates comes out of the group exercise and Personal training realms, however due to the immense popularity of this industry we now have a new problem. “Pilates” teacher training programs taught by those with limited actual experience- teaching there own version of Pilates to student teachers who go and teach it to other students. Additionally there is little or no mentoring of these new teachers. They are told (lied to) that they are teaching “real” “true” “classical””authentic” “Pilates”. They believe it. They believe it with all their well-meaning little hearts …but in fact they know so little of “Pilates” it would be comical if it were not so tragic. There is a scam being perpetrated on these teachers and on the public. A multi-billion-dollar scam, it’s horrible.

My issue is this, those who are adequately and exceptionally trained in the art of teaching “Pilates” suffer a deep injustice. 1. They are often criticized undermined and slandered by false teachers who know not of what they speak, 2. They lose income to such teachers, 3.Potential students are turned off,injured and leery of Pilates, because of their experiences with poorly trained teachers.

Let me interject I believe there are a few good ways to skin a cat and I’m not advocating any particular lineage of “Pilates”, however when the “cat” is not in fact a “cat” but is instead a skunk!, there is a difference.

I have had the privilege of teaching to a diverse group of Pilates teachers recently, all wonderful lovely people. What I most noticed was the number of Pilates teachers who were unfortunately ill-informed and educated about “Pilates”. I was so thrilled that at least they were there, seeking out expanded educational opportunities- that is huge. I was a little worried though, that these particular teachers are the ones teaching large groups in the public arena about Pilates.

Pilates professionals, we are losing the battle, and the public IS suffering, and “Pilates” is being maligned, there is no doubt about it. Noting the amazing growth the Pilates industry has seen in the past ten years, I can see why the need for teachers has grown. That is why group exercise organizations have jumped in to fill the gap. They Don’t KNOW “Pilates”-FACT-!!! I could be more polite….but I’ll turn 50 next year- that’s what happens! Teacher Training is a great revenue stream for them, can you blame them?

So now what do we do? So many, are adverse to having one governing body? What would they do?

If we stay as it is, more of the corrupting of the “Pilates” method will continue until Joe becomes some eccentric old white haired guy in bathing trunks who did sit-ups and “Pilates” as in Contrology exists no more. We need a democratic governing body, we need an entry level foundational test, we need required continuing education. In a perfect world only those who were mentored and nurtured by wonderful experienced “Pilates” teachers could one day, hang out a shingle declaring themselves, “Pilates Teachers”, but this ain’t no perfect world, in case you haven’t noticed.

We need to stand together -I truly believe that- and it will be hard. The reason I have, for 10 years supported the idea of the PMA is just for all of these reasons, and it’s not always perfect either, but I have felt, it’s a malleable enough organization to be guided by the will of it’s members. Does the PMA have to be IT? No, but is there another democratic international organization out there with a third party exam? If you want to start one go ahead, more power to you….or you could work with the one we have that exists not in some utopian fantasy- but in real-life, flaws and all, but striving to be better all the time. This is not an ad for the PMA, this is a wake-up call to those of you who think you can go on forever teaching “Pilates” -the good stuff and not be affected by the marauding hoards of ill-trained Pilates instructors out there.(okay -marauding hoards-is a little over the top)

Bottom line is the public is being duped—every single day, and the reputation of my profession is suffering. I’m getting a little mad..(if you ask anyone about me-that takes a whole lot!)

I am passionate about what I do- this is my life, it’s what colors the tapestry of my spirit .

We can’t lose “Pilates” we have to stand together. ……now I’ve got to go breathe……

Pilates & Peace

Laurette

for more info on PMA  go to : www.pilatesmethodalliance.org

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Duration : 0:0:53

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Duration : 0:2:5

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Joseph Pilates once said that pilates is a thinking man’s workout and Trish explains how the mind-body connection and breathing are vital components, providing oxygen to the brain and is the perfect workout for those with stress in their lives.

Duration : 0:1:36

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Duration : 0:3:58

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